The hacker group Anonymous says the reсent announcement that it will attack the New York Stock Exchange is actually a false flag operation to mar the Occupy Wall Street protests.

The initial threat, posted on Monday said that on October 10 the Anonymous would launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on NYSE, which would “erase” it “from the internet”.

Over past years, similar attacks have brought down websites of several organizations, which the hacktivists targeted for their actions like prosecuting online pirates or obstructing the whistleblower site WikiLeaks.

The new attack was dubbed Invade Wall Street in parallel to the ongoing country-wide protests.

“We… declare a popular war against the New York Stock Exchange. The 10th of October is a day that will never be forgotten,” a statement posted from the group’s name says.

However, as the FBI assured that it is investigating the supposed future cyber attack, the Anonymous group came up with a denial.

“Operation Invade Wall Street is bullshit! It is a fake planted operation by law enforcement and cyber crime agencies in order to get you to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement,” the new statement said.

The text went on to expose an alleged plan of those behind the operation to make supporters of the Anonymous reveal their identities by using flawed software in the attack on NYSE.

The events resemble the August threat to take down the social network Facebook, which Anonymous first voiced and later retracted.

The fuss around the stock exchange may actually be a clever plot by law enforcers using the masked nature of the hacktivist movement against them, an action by a rival online community with goals different to those voiced by the Anonymous earlier, or simply faction struggle within the group itself. The general public can only guess.